Oxford University Vice-Chancellor visits Germany
1 September 2011
Professor Andrew Hamilton, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford, is making his first ever visit as the head of Oxford to Germany on 5-7 September 2011.
The visit aims to reflect and build on the links between Oxford and Germany.
Germany is Oxford University’s third-largest source of non-British students (after the US and China) and its second-largest source of non-British academics. Germany also holds the fifth-largest concentration of Oxford alumni in the world.
Germany is also a major focus of academic collaboration: the only country outside the UK that co-authors more research papers with Oxford is the US.
Germany and the German language are also important subjects of research and study at the university.
Professor Hamilton will visit Berlin, Frankfurt, Heidelberg and Bonn, meeting various people in German higher education, holding a graduate recruitment event, giving talks, and hosting dinners and drinks events for Oxford alumni.
During his visit, he is giving a keynote address at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin on ‘What makes a world-class university in the twenty-first century’. He will discuss his experiences at both Yale and Oxford and make reference to Germany’s Exzellenzinitiative.
He is holding a graduate student recruitment event at the University of Heidelberg, with prospective postgraduate students from several universities invited. The session will involve a talk, a question-and-answer session and a drinks reception.
Professor Andrew Hamilton is the first ever Oxford Vice-Chancellor not to have studied at Oxford, and only the second in the institution’s 900-year history to have been appointed from outside the university. He joined Oxford from Yale in 2009.
Professor Hamilton said: “Oxford’s relationship with Germany is extremely important to us, and I am delighted to be visiting the country. I look forward to meeting Oxford alumni in different cities; fellow academics in some of Germany’s finest universities; and the potential Oxford students of the future at a graduate recruitment event in Heidelberg.
“Germany is not only a source of great talent in Oxford, both at student and researcher level, but also a place with which we collaborate academically in fields as diverse as physics, law, history and molecular biology. It is also a country of endless fascination to Oxford’s researchers and students, who explore Germany’s history, law, literature, language, and more.
“I am also looking forward to discussing higher education issues with my counterparts in Germany, including the Exzellenzinitiative. At a time of turbulence in the funding of higher education in the UK, it’s good to get perspectives from other countries.”
For further information, or if you would like to interview Professor Hamilton, please contact Ruth Collier or Matt Pickles, press office, University of Oxford, on press.office@admin.ox.ac.uk, or +44 16865 280528
At 17:30–18:45 on Monday 5 September, the Vice-Chancellor is giving a keynote address at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin on ‘What makes a world-class university in the twenty-first century’. Journalists who wish to attend are welcome, and should register interest with the press office, University of Oxford, on press.office@admin.ox.ac.uk.
At 15:00–18:00 on Tuesday 6 September the Vice-Chancellor is holding a graduate student recruitment event at the University of Heidelberg, with prospective postgraduate students from several universities invited. The session will involve a talk from the VC, a Q&A and a drinks reception. Journalists who wish to attend are welcome, and should register interest with the press office, University of Oxford, on press.office@admin.ox.ac.uk.